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from: Roger Ebert
to: David Edelstein, Sarah Kerr, Jonathan Rosenbaum, and A.O. Scott

"Doesn't style count for something?"

Posted Monday, Jan. 7, 2002, at 11:57 AM ET

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Hi Tony,

I understand your point about A Beautiful Mind—you're saying it isn't true even if one doesn't know it isn't factual. But how do you discriminate between the kind of movie that must be true and the kind where truth doesn't matter? If the movie fully absorbed me and moved me as a, let's say, untrue fantasy, is my response invalid? I knew Rain Man wasn't true, and that didn't bother me. I knew I Am Sam wasn't true, and it did. Isn't there some kind of sliding scale by which a director can compensate for less truth by more artistry? Do we enjoy movies that are completely true but inept and boring? Doesn't style count for something?

Best,
R

the movie club
entries
1
from: Roger Ebert
to: David Edelstein, Sarah Kerr, Jonathan Rosenbaum, and A.O. Scott

"Doesn't style count for something?"

Posted Monday, Jan. 7, 2002, at 11:57 AM ET
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Roger Ebert is the Chicago Sun-Times' film critic. David Edelstein is Slate's film critic. You can read his reviews in "Reel Time" and in "Movies." He can be contacted at . Sarah Kerr writes for the New York Review of Books and Condé Nast Traveler, among other publications. Jonathan Rosenbaum is the film critic for the Chicago Reader. A.O. Scott is a film critic at the New York Times.
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